Franklin v. City of Kingsburg

**Franklin v. City of Kingsburg: Court Denies Worker's Request for New Trial** This case involved workers who had sued Walmart and lost their employment lawsuit. After losing, the workers discovered that the judge who originally ruled against them owned Walmart stock, which the judge had not disclosed during the trial. The workers argued this created an unfair conflict of interest and asked the court to throw out the previous ruling and give them a new trial. The court denied the workers' request for a new trial. The judge ruled that even though the original judge should have disclosed owning Walmart stock, it didn't matter in this case. This was because a higher appeals court had already reviewed the case completely and reached the same conclusion - that Walmart should win. Since the appeals court looked at everything fresh and came to the same result, the court said there was no unfairness that needed to be corrected. **What this means for workers:** Even when judges make serious mistakes like not disclosing financial conflicts, workers may not get a second chance if appeals courts have already reviewed their cases thoroughly. Workers should be aware that disclosure issues might not always lead to new trials, especially after appeals are complete.